SOA

Service-Oriented Architecture

Several acronyms [SOA], [WOA], [REST] decscribe modern initiatives in technology of informational systems and science. Service-Oriented Science, or much closer to me, Service-Oriented Astronomy, is a science enabled by that technology. Another name for Service-Oriented Astronomy is Virtual Observatory (VO).

From http://blog.gartner.com/blog/index.php?itemid=400

WOA - Web Oriented Architecture is a subset of SOA.

Web Oriented Architecture:

• Long version: WOA is an architectural style that is a substyle of SOA based on the architecture of the WWW with the following additional constraints: globally linked, decentralized, and uniform intermediary processing of application state via self-describing messages.
• Shorthand version: WOA = SOA + WWW + REST

BTW, Since WOA is a substyle of SOA (ie it imposes additional constraints above and beyond those imposed by SOA), you may be interested in our definition of SOA:

Service-Oriented Architecture:

• Long version: An architectural style in which certain discrete functions are packaged into modular, shareable, distributable elements ("services"), which can be invoked by consumers in a loosely coupled manner.
• Shorthand version: SOA = modular + distributable + sharable + loosely coupled